• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.61-80
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• 2009

Readers' advisory service has become more important for public libraries as one of the critical service areas in terms of supporting libraries patrons' reading. This study aims to discover major types of readers' advisory services provided through public libraries' web sites. Contents of 200 public libraries' home pages in U. S. were analyzed and nine areas were identified as the major readers' advisory areas. This study also proves that American public libraries are diversly communicating with their patrons and providing user-oriented advisory services. The identified key factors of readers' advisory services will help for Korean public libraries to develope their own services.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.215-240
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to examine for redefining the concept of literacy in Library and Information Science research field and in public library services. For the purpose, literature review, bibliometric analysis and case study were conducted. Based on the results, this study proposed the concept of literacy as "a comprehensive ability to use a medium, information and knowledge for solving the problems people faces in order to understand particular subjects or situations they are in" and the concept of literacy service as "the services or programs offered by public libraries in order to develop their patrons' literacies." This research also suggests four new literacy service concepts for public library services: early literacy service, adult literacy service, digital literacy service, information literacy service.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.291-312
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• 2014

The purpose of this national study is to identify the factors affecting the public library use among the Korean adult population. The study constructed a model of three types of factors to explain the frequency of public library visits: an individual's socio-demographic characteristics, input and output measures of the local library, and the community size and library investment of the local government. The data were collected from both a national representative sample of 1,000 adults of 18 years old or above who participated in a web survey and the 2013 National Library Statistics of Korea. It was found that a more frequent public library visit occurred when a person who read more and lived closer to the library, which was newly established in a small to medium-sized scale, who lives in a city with a greater population and with more library staff members serving a fewer patrons. Implications for future public library constructions and for public services were suggested based on the study findings.